Spurs find way to clear roadblock

ORLANDO — Dwight Howard snagged the rebound and swung the ball to J.J. Redick, only one of the purest shooters on the planet, who prepared to line up the game-winning 3-pointer from the top of the key.

Watching all this unfold from under the Amway Arena basket Wednesday, with visions of another Spurs road loss dancing in his head, Tim Duncan recalls having one distinct thought.

“Holy crap,” Duncan said.

Duncan held his breath, and he did not exhale until after the Spurs had survived an 85-83 overtime victory over Orlando, coming as close as possible to losing their sixth straight road game to start the season before finally winning their first.

Redick’s shot swished — of course it did — but, in an about-face of luck from the Spurs’ previous sojourns, the ball left his hand after time had expired. The dagger did not count.

Given the Spurs’ early struggles on the road this season — they started 0-5 for the first time since 1988-89 — they’ll take the win any way it comes.

Tony Parker scored 16 of his 25 points after the third quarter and had nine assists, while Duncan scrapped out 17 points and 10 rebounds against Howard. After starting 0 for 5, Gary Neal made the game’s biggest shot, a crucial 3-pointer to give the Spurs an 84-81 lead with 28.2 seconds left in OT.

The triumph was the Spurs’ first on the road since winning in Atlanta on April 5 of last season. It was their first in Orlando since March 25, 2008, after losing in their last three trips here by a combined 60 points.

It came against a Magic team (10-4) that had won five in a row but was playing its third game in as many nights. No matter.

“We needed one on the road,” Duncan said. “This was a good one to get.”

With the long-awaited away win, the Spurs (10-5) exited the not-so-exclusive club of teams still winless on the road. Only Milwaukee and Washington can still go 0-33.

The Spurs won despite shooting just 2 of 17 from 3-point range and despite 24 points and 25 rebounds from Howard, who had a pair of follow dunks in OT.

That was the best part of the win to coach Gregg Popovich. A night after the Spurs crumbled in the second half of a 120-98 loss at Miami, causing Popovich to bemoan the way his “soft” team had “folded,” they outlasted adversity Wednesday.

“More than anything, they just played through whatever was going to happen on the court,” Popovich said. “They just kept on plugging.”

One poster boy was Parker, who was 4 of 12 with nine points through the first three quarters. In the fourth, he connected on 7 of 8 to help get the game to OT.

“I was having great shots (early), they just weren’t going in,” said Parker, who is averaging 21.7 points and 7.7 assists in his last six games. “I knew that couldn’t last the whole game, so I just kept shooting.”

Neal knows the feeling. He had missed all four of his 3-point tries — and 16 of his previous 18 — when Popovich drew up a look for him with the score tied in the final 39 seconds.

“Being a shooter, my mentality is, ‘It’s not the last one, it’s the next one,’?” Neal said.

Neal’s lone basket of the game put the Spurs ahead for good, but they couldn’t chalk up road win No. 1 until after a frantic final possession by the Magic.

After Ryan Anderson missed from the corner, Howard rebounded and found Redick, who pump faked Danny Green, took one dribble and buried the jumper.

Luckily for the Spurs, it was just enough, but too late.

“It was one of those things — you just hold your breath and hope for the best,” Duncan said. “That horn went off, and we got lucky.”

After the misfortune that had been their baggage on the road so far, the Spurs aren’t about to complain about a little luck now.